"Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets" Main Character Essay

In the story, "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket," the main character is Tom Benecke. As the story progresses, he is faced with many decisions. He is forced to act quickly and because of this, many things about him change. In the story, Tom is ambitious, self-centered, and impatient. These three traits change significantly throughout the story.

Tom is a very ambitious person when it comes to his work. He is caught up in getting a promotion from work by doing a project. Tom just focuses on the "big picture," which is his future, rather than the "small picture," which is what his wife is doing. This trait changes at the end when he decides to go to the movies with his wife. When the paper flew out the window for the second time, he realized that he can do the paper over again but he can never take back that one specific night he could have spent with his wife.

At the beginning, Tom is very self-centered and preoccupied with his work. He finds what he wants to do more important than what his wife wants to do that night. Once faced with the reality of death, he realizes how important his wife is to him. This forces him to be strong and stay alive, for her sake. The only reason he made it back into his house was because of how much he cared for her. Tom then decides to go find her at the movies, which shows that he has become less self-centered and more aware of his wife's feelings.

Tom knows that his project can wait, but he has to have it done so his boss can read it over the weekend. The fact that his work couldn't wait until he got back from the movies shows what an impatient person he is. When Tom is out on the ledge retrieving his paper, he is forced to be very patient and to take things one step at a time. These incidents change his traits and make him more aware of his surroundings.

Overall, Tom Benecke becomes a better person because of everything he went through. He became less ambitious, less self-centered, and less impatient with everything...